GHANAIAN DRUG COURIER ARRESTED IN ETHIOPIA WITH

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 001000 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND INL/ENT CAIRO FOR DEA LAGOS FOR LEGATT CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM PTER ET GH EG AE TO IR SUBJECT: GHANAIAN DRUG COURIER ARRESTED IN ETHIOPIA WITH HEROIN ALLEGEDLY FROM IRAN REF: A. 06 ADDIS ABABA 3006 (NOTAL) ¶B. 06 ADDIS ABABA 41 (NOTAL) ¶1. (SBU) On March 17, Ethiopian Federal Police arrested Ghanaian national Abubakari Yakubu (DPOB: 23 January 1972, Accra) for possession of heroin at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Mr. Yakubu, age 35, was transiting Bole International Airport en route to Lome, and had concealed the heroin in his body cavities via swallowing. Mr. Yakubu allegedly obtained nearly one kilogram of heroin in Iran, where he swallowed the heroin for concealment and boarded a flight to Dubai. According to Addis Ababa Deputy Commander of Ethiopian Federal Police Illicit Drug Control Service Tsehayu Kinfu, authorities in Dubai knew that Mr. Yakubu had SIPDIS drugs in his system but chose to allow him to board his flight to Addis Ababa. According to Tsehayu, Dubai authorities reported his actions to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Cairo, who, in turn, alerted the Ethiopian Federal Police to this suspected narcotics smuggler. -------------- EXPULSION OF OVER ONE POUND OF HEROIN -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ethiopian police took custody of Mr. Yakubu on March 23, after his release from an Addis Ababa hospital, where he had expelled a total of 27 pellets of heroin (following a diet of spaghetti, oranges, and laxatives). As of March 26, Mr. Yakubu expelled five additional pellets, bringing the total of expelled pellets to 31, equaling 586.74 grams (or 1.25 pounds) of heroin. As of April 2, Mr. Yakubu remained in the custody of Ethiopian police. -------------- -------------- ETHIOPIA NOT LIKELY A HUB FOR EXCESSIVE DRUG TRAFFICKING -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: It was unclear whether the Ethiopian police had made contact with the Ghanaian Embassy regarding the arrest. As noted in Ethiopia's 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) (ref A),post assesses that Ethiopia is not, nor is it likely to become, a significant producer, trafficker, or consumer of narcotic drugs. However, its location among the major narcotics routes between Southeast/Southwest Asian heroin production, European markets, and West African trafficking networks, make it a prime candidate for continued drug trafficking. For example, Ethiopian Federal Police report having confiscated 11 kg, 312.76 grams of heroin from 14 individuals in 2005, and 16 kg, 165.98 grams of heroin from 22 individuals in ¶2004. END COMMENT. YAMAMOTO